Chapter 49
The sword in Zeppelin’s hand trembled violently.
That meant Robert hadn’t spread false rumors.
How could that man have known more about Rebecca than he himself did?
Zeppelin’s fury turned in the wrong direction. He was lamenting that he had killed Robert so easily.
“Lady Rebecca is far too noble a being for you.”
Damn it.
As Zeppelin struggled to calm his anger, Octavio quickly asked the priest,
“Then are the blisters and fever on my lady’s body also because of divine power?”
The priest paused in thought before answering.
“From my humble knowledge… yes. This is a divine illness. From ancient times, when someone gifted with great holy power rejected becoming a vessel of God, they occasionally suffered such ailments. There are records of their bodies breaking out in rashes and burning with fever. From this, I believe the countess is now afflicted with divine illness.”
At the mention of a diagnosis, Zeppelin grabbed the priest by the shoulders and shook him violently.
“Then what’s the cure? There is a way to return her to normal, isn’t there?”
“There is one way, but…”
“Out with it, quickly!”
Pressed by Zeppelin’s fierce demand, the priest stammered.
“She must accept God. That is the only way.”
Zeppelin felt the blood drain from his body.
Octavio rushed to bring over a chair before Zeppelin collapsed.
Zeppelin sank into it weakly and let out a groan.
“Ahhh…”
To become a saint meant to serve God alone.
If one was married, they had to divorce before being admitted.
It was a path of sacrifice that required abandoning even one’s children—hence the choice was left open.
Zeppelin felt like dying.
To restore Rebecca to her true self, he had to give her up. But to keep her by his side as she was now… she was a grotesque sight.
This was not the Rebecca he loved.
Yet, regardless of how dire the situation seemed, Rebecca watched the priest with amusement.
“Hmm… his acting is first-rate. I’ll have to learn his name later.”
Sensing her gaze, the priest looked at Rebecca.
When their eyes met, she gave a faint smile. The priest seemed to take it as a plea for help and adopted a solemn expression.
“Then you must decide now.”
Zeppelin replied in a feeble voice,
“Decide what?”
“Whether Lady Rebecca will become a saint or not.”
“Of course, Rebecca—!”
Zeppelin began to shout, then faltered.
Which was better?
For her to regain the beauty he dreamed of only to belong to another, or to remain hideous yet stay by his side, clinging to past glory?
As he struggled with the choice, a thought flashed across Zeppelin’s mind.
“Divine illness isn’t hereditary, so she can still bear children…”
With that conclusion, his rage slowly subsided.
In a calmer tone, he said,
“Rebecca will become a saint—”
“No. The spouse’s opinion carries no weight.”
The priest cut him off abruptly.
“What?”
“The most important factor in sainthood is the will of the individual. The goddess Dephria, who cherishes freedom, does not wish for her servants to live in misery.”
Then, looking Rebecca straight in the eye, he said,
“Lady Rebecca Devonshire, will you become a faithful servant of the goddess Dephria?”
Rebecca slowly swept her gaze across the gathered spectators.
All these onlookers were surely Octavio’s doing.
Octavio gave her a subtle nod.
Rebecca stared back at him, then broke into a knowing smile as she said,
“I will not…”
“Damn it!”
Octavio slashed his fencing blade mercilessly into a practice dummy.
Though it was just a dummy, his brutal hacking was so savage it was as if he were committing real murder.
Panting, Octavio pushed back his navy-blue hair.
His face sometimes looked that of an old man, then suddenly that of a boy.
No one could guess his true age.
“How dare she make a fool of me?”
He recalled what had happened earlier that day.
“I will not become a saint. I cannot imagine a life without Zeppelin.”
He swung harder, and the dummy fell to pieces on the ground.
In his judgment, Rebecca clearly wished to escape Zeppelin.
Had she not dared to dance with Duke Johannes in front of Zeppelin, and sneak out secretly?
And those eyes!
The cold way she sometimes looked at Zeppelin convinced Octavio.
Rebecca was not the type to wear such an expression unless her heart had shifted.
So why, when he had opened the way for her, did she refuse to step out?
“Did I overestimate her?”
Maybe Rebecca was far more foolish than he thought.
Unable to judge what was best for herself—just another idiotic sort he despised.
Perhaps seducing Robert hadn’t been a clever scheme at all, but mere chance.
With her looks, she could have tempted him easily. Perhaps she even offered more… who knew.
The thought stoked his irritation.
He despised people who were born with blessings beyond their worth.
As of today, he decided Rebecca belonged to that same category.
Had he possessed Rebecca’s beauty, he might have ruled a kingdom.
But she chose to remain beside that wretched Zeppelin, even now stripped of her charms.
“Foolish. Utterly foolish.”
Octavio remembered Zeppelin grabbing him by the collar.
Controlling him was becoming harder. Before Zeppelin completely slipped from his grasp, he needed a solution.
“If I can’t move with my own hands…”
Octavio sank deep into thought.
Just then, one of his hounds knocked on the door.
The hounds always reported to Octavio before Zeppelin.
“What is it?”
“Lady Alicia has left her room.”
Octavio’s eyes gleamed.
“Ah, yes. The count had another doll. One he discarded.”
Alicia slipped silently out of her room.
For some reason, not a single candle was lit in the corridor, as though death had passed through.
Though the mansion lay shrouded in an eerie darkness, Alicia felt no fear.
Her steps were light but resolute.
When Rebecca had fallen ill, Alicia rejoiced. While she lay bedridden, Alicia could monopolize Zeppelin’s affection.
When no doctor could find her illness, Alicia wept tears of joy.
And today, upon learning it was an incurable divine sickness, she offered prayers of thanks.
With such a hideous form, Rebecca could never fulfill her duties as countess.
Even Zeppelin would wrinkle his nose at the stench from her body.
Alicia believed it was only natural that Rebecca would be cast out and she herself would become the true countess.
But then she overheard Zeppelin whispering secretly to Octavio—and her hopes collapsed.
“What ways are there to have a child without much physical contact?”
That very afternoon, Grace began buying large amounts of herbs said to help conception.
Zeppelin had no intention of letting Rebecca go.
Even if he discarded her, he would never give up her child.
The thought made Alicia’s chest burn with rage.
If Rebecca bore a child, then what of her own and her child’s place?
A child of lowly birth would never be welcomed in noble society.
Alicia caressed her swollen belly.
“I will protect you.”
With determined eyes, she laid her hand on Rebecca’s door handle.
“What do you think you’ll do with that little knife?”
Startled, Alicia nearly dropped the dagger in her other hand.
Octavio clicked his tongue at her pitiful sight.
“With your frail strength, you couldn’t even land a fatal blow. I’ve told you countless times—think before you act.”
“Octavio…”
“Well, since it’s come to this, I’ll help you once more.”
He pulled a small vial from his coat.
Inside sloshed a liquid as deep purple as Alicia’s eyes.
“This is venom from a Dakota viper.”
“…”
“What, afraid now that it’s real? Don’t worry. This poison is famous for making death come like sleep—no pain.”
Alicia stared up at him silently.
Octavio leaned in menacingly, and she flinched, stepping back.
“I promised I’d make you countess. I’m even telling you the method myself. Don’t argue—just do it. Or would you rather crawl back into that mud pit you came from? Just say the word, and I’ll send you back anytime.”
“When did I ever say I didn’t want this?”
With a glare, Alicia snatched the vial from his hand.
Octavio smirked and jerked his chin toward the door.
Clutching the vial tightly, Alicia slowly pushed open Rebecca’s door.
The moment she entered, a stench overwhelmed her, and she covered her nose with her sleeve.
The room that once smelled of flowers now reeked of rot.
Rebecca lay asleep, breathing evenly, locked in deep slumber.
Occasionally she grimaced, as though fighting her illness even in dreams.
“Rebecca…”
Standing over her, Alicia looked down.
The figure she once admired was gone. What remained was a monster everyone shunned.
She suddenly recalled her first day here.
After Zeppelin had left her devastated, Octavio had approached her.
He tempted her with promises of making her countess, painting vivid pictures of life in a luxurious mansion.
Alicia had no reason to refuse.
She had been desperate to escape her small village.
Her beauty was poison in such a narrow pond.
Almost every man wanted her, and some were vile.
Anywhere was better than there.
She had no intention of living like her mother—so she followed Octavio to Irencia.
His plan had worked perfectly.
After starving her for days, he left her collapsed along Rebecca’s favorite walking path.
Rebecca saved her, and Alicia easily won her favor.
The day she awoke, she remembered the moment she first laid eyes on Rebecca.
A moment she would never forget.
